Central Michigan University
Loyola Chicago
Chippewas Run Record to 4-0
11/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Cullen Maksimowski, CMUChippewas.com
CHICAGO — Jewel Cotton scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds Wednesday as the Central Michigan women's basketball team remained undefeated with a 68-59 non-conference victory over Loyola Chicago.
The Chippewas (4-0) outscored the Ramblers, 26-13, in the third quarter, turning a two-point halftime advantage into a 53-38 bulge heading into the fourth. Loyola (1-3) never got closer than seven points in the final period.
"That's the toughest team we've played, by far," said Cotton, who scored 15 of her points in the second half in notching the second double-double of her career. "They don't back down."
Presley Hudson added 15 points for CMU, while Da'Jourie Turner had 12, and Jasmine Harris came off the bench to add 10.
Tinara Moore grabbed 10 rebounds, Turner finished with five assists, and Hudson made five steals and hit four 3-pointers as the Chippewas finished 8-for-23 (34.8 percent) from long range.
Taylor Johnson scored 13 points to pace Loyola, while Dakota Vann and Taylor Manuel added 12 apiece. Manuel grabbed 13 rebounds.
At 4-0, the Chippewas are off to their best start in coach Sue Guevara's nine years in charge of the program. Four CMU players - Hudson, Turner, Moore and Harris - entered the game averaging 10-plus points per game.
Cotton, a redshirt junior, was averaging 9.3 for a team that scored an average of 92 points in its first three starts, a number that ranks 11th nationally.
"Biggest thing is we trust each other, and when you trust each other, you pass well," Cotton said. "Even if we don't make a shot, we know that next one's going in. We don't let the misses interfere with what's going to happen in the future."
The Chippewas held a 23-16 rebounding edge in the second half, and that enabled them to push the tempo. It also helped them get to the free throw line, from which they made nine of their 12 second-half attempts after going 1-for-2 in the first half.
"I didn't think we were attacking very much at all in the first half," Guevara said. "We ended up with 16 offensive rebounds because we started going to the glass.
"That's one thing our post players do, they run the floor. And if they run the floor they've got to get the ball, and I thought we got them the ball and they finished, they finished in transition."
The Chippewas will remain in Chicago for a 4 p.m. Friday game with Illinois-Chicago (3-1).
